IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v51y2005i3p276-284.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Stigma of Mental Illness in Germany: A Trend Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Matthias C. Angermeyer

    (Department of Psychiatry, University of Leipzig,, Johannisallee 20, 04317 Leipzig, Germanykrausem@medizin.uni-leipzig.de)

  • Herbert Matschinger

    (Department of Psychiatry, University of Leipzig, Germany.)

Abstract

Background: While there are some indications that the mental health literacy of the public has improved within recent years, the findings concerning its attitudes towards the mentally ill are quite inconsistent. Aims: The aim of this study is to examine whether any changes have taken place inGermany over the last decade regarding the stigmatisation ofmentally ill people. Method: In 2001, a representative population survey was carried out among the German adult population, using the same sampling procedure and the same measure for the assessment of perceived stigma as in a previous survey that had been conducted in 1990. Results: Our findings suggest that in 2001, the German public was somewhat less inclined to believe that former mental patients are exposed to stigmatisation than a decade ago. While this holds especially true for the devaluation of patients, the picture is more mixed for discrimination. The trend towards less perceived stigmatisation is particularly pronounced among people who are familiar with psychiatric treatment. Conclusions: Since a substantial amount of perceived stigma still persists, further efforts to reduce the stigma attached to mental illness are needed.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthias C. Angermeyer & Herbert Matschinger, 2005. "The Stigma of Mental Illness in Germany: A Trend Analysis," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 51(3), pages 276-284, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:51:y:2005:i:3:p:276-284
    DOI: 10.1177/0020764005057390
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764005057390
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0020764005057390?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Markku Ojanen, 1992. "Attitudes Towards Mental Patients," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 38(2), pages 120-130, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kee-Lee Chou & Ki-yan Mak, 1998. "Attitudes To Mental Patients Among Hong Kong Chinese: a Trend Study Over Two Years," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 44(3), pages 215-224, September.
    2. Adrian Furnham & Masako Murao, 2000. "A Cross-Cultural Comparison of British and Japanese Lay Theories of Schizophrenia," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 46(1), pages 4-20, March.
    3. Nazan Aydin & Arzu Yigit & Tacettin Inandi & Ismet Kirpinar, 2003. "Attitudes of Hospital Staff Toward Mentally Ill Patients in a Teaching Hospital, Turkey," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 49(1), pages 17-26, March.
    4. Kee-Lee Chou & Ki-Yan Mak & Po-Kin Chung & David Chan & Kimmy Ho, 1996. "Attitudes Towards Mental Patients in Hong Kong," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 42(3), pages 213-219, September.
    5. Adrian Furnham, 2009. "Psychiatric and Psychotherapeutic Literacy: Attitudes To, and Knowledge of, Psychotherapy," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 55(6), pages 525-537, November.
    6. Ming-De Chen & Yen-Ching Chang, 2016. "Personnel attitudes toward people with mental illness at a psychiatric hospital in Taiwan," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 62(4), pages 361-368, June.
    7. Samir Al-Adawi & Atsu S.S. Dorvlo & Suad S. Al-Ismaily & Dalal A. Al-Ghafry & Balquis Z. Al-Noobi & Ahmed Al-Salmi & David T. Burke & Mrugeshkumar K. Shah & Harith Ghassany & Suma P. Chand, 2002. "Perception of and Attitude towards Mental Illness in Oman," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 48(4), pages 305-317, December.
    8. Marcus Y.L. Chiu & Kenneth K.L. Chan, 2007. "Community Attitudes Towards Discriminatory Practice Against People with Severe Mental Illness in Hong Kong," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 53(2), pages 159-174, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:51:y:2005:i:3:p:276-284. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.